Secret Friendship
by HurricaneRelic
Summary: Collection of one-shots featuring Harry and Daphne, and their various adventures throughout school and possibly afterwards too. Each story is related on the same continuity (see intro for more details). Written for the School of Prompts Challenge.
1. Introduction

Introduction:

So this is a small introduction to this story. Its going to be written as a bunch of one-shots that all exist within one continuity (any stories that won't fit in here I'll post to a separate story – for example any all of the AU prompts will likely end up there, as well as any pairing prompts that don't quite fit into the continuity).

I'll also keep an updated list of the chronological order of the chapters here, for anyone that wants to read it in Chronological order. Otherwise feel free to read them in the order I've written them in. Some of the stories will lead into another one, even if it isn't chronologically ordered.

I'll also keep a list of other events that are mentioned in the stories, so if there is one that you really want to read about, tell me which one! So, with that, I'll leave you guys to enjoy the story.

 **Different Summary** : Harry needed help during the Triwizard Tournament. Striking a bargain with a Slytherin, how will this affect Harry for the rest of his time at Hogwarts and afterwords? Primarily a Harry/Daphne series of stories.

 **Stories in Chronological Order:**

4th Year stories:

 _Adventure_

 _Chamber of Adventure_

5th Year Stories:

 _Candles and Wonders_

6th Year stories:

 _Hiss  
Magazine  
A Sign of Trust  
Hold Your Breath  
Of Youthful Habits and New Friends_

7th Year stories:

 _Muggle 101_

8th Year Stories (i.e. Harry and company return to get N.E. after the Battle of Hogwarts)

 _School Dance  
Great [Hall] Reactions  
Black Family Home  
Valentines Day  
To Unity_

Beyond:

None so far

Here are potential stories that I mention throughout the other stories, I'll end up writing most of them, but if there is one any of you really want to see now, I'll try to write that one sooner.

 **Potential Stories** :

4th Year:

\- Follow up to Adventure – exploring the CoS

5th Year:

\- Harry getting yelled at for trying to break up with Daphne

\- Daphne comforting Harry after Sirius's death

6th Year:

\- Telling Daphne of Horcruxes and Riddle's past

7th Year:

8th Year:

\- Pranks + mindgames on the school and Draco

\- Daphne and Harry pranking each other in the middle of snowball fight (vanishing most of their clothes)

Beyond:

\- After the Harry and group take over the Ministry


	2. Hiss

A/N: Written for the School of Prompts challenge  
Prompt: K1 - Hiss  
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, I just write in it for my own amusement and entertainment

* * *

Hiss:

Harry paced back and forth three times, waiting for the door to appear. When it did he walked in, smiling at the result. Perfect room for a comfortable date. A small table was all set up with a meal and the decorations were warm enough. Harry paused a bit, perhaps they were a bit too warm, too many Gryffindor colors, not enough other colors. He thought for a bit more and added some green and silver as well. Hopefully that will make her more comfortable.

He pulled out a parchment and muttered, "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." It took a bit for him to locate the dot that he was waiting for and watched her footprints heading towards his location. He then noticed another set of footprints also approaching his location—Malfoy. He groaned as he realized that they were going to meet up outside the door. He quickly wished for the Room to hide the door.

He fought the urge to burst out there and curse Draco; Draco had to be up to something. He watched the map carefully for a bit before watching one of the dots run quite quickly down the corridor. He smirked and put away the map before willing the door to open appear and open again.

Harry greeted a smug looking Daphne Greengrass stowing away her wand. "Glad you could join me. Malfoy wasn't too much trouble?"

"A few well aimed stinging hexes sent him running."

Harry smirked and escorted Daphne to the table, pulling out the seat for her before sitting at the opposite side of the table. They started their dinner brought to them by Dobby while chatting about the various events that occurred over the past week – Snape being ridiculous in potions class, rumors of Hermione and Ron being found in a broom closet.

"Malfoy is up to something." Harry brought up as they finished eating.

"Malfoy is just playing the same games he has the past 5 years, hes still trying to abuse his power." Daphne doubted that Malfoy was actually capable of anything.

"Its different this year." Harry explained what he overheard at Borgin and Burkes and on the train. "He's doing something for Voldemort."

Daphne frowned, she didn't think that Draco was capable of doing anything; Draco showed very little cunning in the past 5 years, he was unlikely to suddenly gain any amount now.

Harry noticed her hesitation and sighed. No one will believe him until he gets any evidence. "Can you at least keep an eye out for Draco?"

Daphne agreed to keep tabs on Draco when she could. It paid to be attentive and, if Draco was indeed up to something, she could try to keep herself and Harry safe. Harry smiled and produced two small packages.

"Something to help you hopefully keep you safe, and maybe help you keep an eye on Draco." From the first box Harry pulled out a small pendant. "I found this in the Chamber of Secrets, it allows you to understand Parseltongue, though you still wouldn't be able to speak it."

He held out the pendant, and Daphne unclasped the chain and offered it back to Harry to put it on her. He smiled broadly and put it on her. He then slid the other box towards towards her. Daphne noticed the breathing holes in the box. She wondered briefly what animal was in the box, when she realized it was a snake. That was why she was also given the pendant. She slowly slid off the cover. A hiss followed by a snake shot out of the box and then wrapped itself around her. Daphne let out a surprised shriek and almost fell out of her chair before recovering her composure.

Harry fell out of his chair laughing, giving himself a mental pat on the back for breaking through Daphne's mask for moment.

"Potter, you git!" Harry almost immediately stopped laughing at the sound of the irate witch, leveling him a death glare. He had a sudden thought that this prank probably wasn't worth it, and proceeded to look for a way out in the least painful manner.

"Seeyounextweek!" Harry turned and felt a stinging hex hit him on the thigh. Harry whipped his invisibility cloak around him and sprinted for the door, getting hit by two more stinging hexes on the way out.

Daphne smirked as she watched Harry disappear from view and make a hasty exit. She really had to get revenge on Harry for some of the pranks he pulled. She noticed that Harry had left behind an old piece of parchment, the Marauders Map, still active. Potter will have to come back for this at some time. Daphne collected her things and left the Room of Requirement.

"Mischief managed." She smirked. Revenge will be sweet.


	3. Magazine

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, I just write for fun with the characters created by the wonderful J.K. Rowling.

Written for the School of Prompts Challenge

Prompt: K2 – Magazine

* * *

Daphne woke up rather early for a Saturday morning, she would have preferred to lay in bed but she wanted to see the show that was going to begin in the Great Hall.

She arrived at the Slytherin table and made sure to sit with her back to the wall so she could watch the rest of the Hall, especially the Gryffindor table. She watched as the students started to fill in and smirked a bit when Harry walked in with Hermione. Shortly thereafter owls started delivering the post, and the subscriptions to various magazines and newspapers. Daphne patiently waited for the first reactions, briefly wondering what they would do to Harry.

She didn't have to wait long. There were some suppressed gasps and squeals, and some of the witches turned to stare at Harry. Daphne noted those who clearly had a crush on Harry, and their looks of longing. At least she now knew who to watch out for. She also noted a few people that had a look of lust while staring at Harry. Romilda Vane. Daphne leveled a glare at Romilda, but she didn't notice as she was still staring at Harry like a piece of meat.

"Hey, check this out! Witch Weekly printed another special on the Boy-who-lived." Daphne turned to look at her friend, Tracey Davis, as she sat down next to her. Tracey showed her the article. It was a bunch of information regarding Harry, mostly harmless things like his favorite color (blue - the color of Daphne's eyes), his favorite treat (treacle tarts), his favorite hangout spots in Hogwarts (usually that abandoned classroom on the third floor he likes to pace in, the article didn't mention the Room of Requirement though), and other general information.

"Can you believe that Harry can cook?" Tracey was shocked at that bit of information. "How did they even find all this out, no one knows any of this except for the treacle tart bit."

They both glanced up at Harry, who seemed to notice the attention he was getting from the female population. He started feeling awkward and made a hasty exit out of the hall.

Daphne walked into the room and found Harry pacing back and forth. He kept running his hand through his wild hair.

"That won't help your hair settle." Though she loved the wildness of it.

Harry whipped out his wand, before realizing who it was and stowed his wand. "I need your help! They won't leave me alone."

"Who won't leave you alone." She knew exactly who was bothering Harry: his fan club.

"The girls! Romilda gave me somehow got some Cauldron Cakes and Treacle tart for me. Susan found me in the abandoned classroom that I use. Davis even asked me to cook something for her! How did Witch Weekly even know all that?"

Daphne rubbed her brow, did Tracey really ask that? "Why are you so concerned with them, just tell them that you aren't interested and ignore the publicity, you should be used to that already."

"But its my privacy! How di-" Harry connected the dots. "You have the Marauder's Map! So you told them about the classroom I hide in and the other secrets!" Daphne slowly withdrew the Marauder's Map from her bag. Harry scowled at her and snatched the map out of her hands before saying in a cold, hard voice, "I guess that's just your Slytherin side, to sell out information about me. What's next, giving Voldemort information on where I live?"

Harry stormed out of the room leaving Daphne there alone. "Oh bugger."

"Whats wrong Daphne?"

"Wha- Nothing. Nothing is wrong." Daphne continued to stare at her potions essay, hoping that the essay would get the hint to write itself. The paper stubbornly refused, kind of like how Harry would stubbornly refuse somethings. Ah, thinking of Potter again. Then the self-loathing began. How could she have thought that would have been an okay thing to do? She knew Harry fairly well, she knew he was a private person and wanted to avoid the press. She had done the one thing that shattered that trust.

"Its not nothing, you barely eaten anything in the past week, you seem to be barely getting any sleep. You look awful –" Daphne certainly felt awful. "Come on Daph, what's wrong? Did some boy break your heart?" Tracey said jokingly, she doubted that Daphne had a boyfriend, though she was disappearing on weekends more often the past few weeks.

Daphne just seemed to sag more in her seat. Her shoulders dropped and she frowned at her potions essay. Tracey noticed immediately. Her eyes widened. "Oh my god, who is it? I'm going to hex him into oblivion for hurting you!"

"No don't, it… well, I hurt him. I think he loathes me now."

Tracey stared at her looking completely gobsmacked. Daphne had fallen for someone? She demanded to know who it was. Daphne made her swear on her magic that she wouldn't tell anyone unless Daphne gave her permission to tell. Then Daphne told her.

"WHAT? How? When did you get together with Pot-" Daphne slapped a hand over Tracey's mouth.

"Keep it down will you, we don't want anyone else in the school to know." Daphne gave her a glare, before she felt a pang in her chest again. No one else will need to know because it probably won't be a thing anymore. "I ran into Har – err, Potter, during our 4th year. I think I actually started enjoying his company when he showed me one of his secrets..."

* * *

A/N: So I wasn't actually going to write this out chronologically, because of the nature and randomness of the prompts, but things might end up chronological, the next chapter (and prompt) will relate to Harry sharing some secrets with Daphne. These will probably still be a collection of oneshots, though I will probably try to connect these stories in some way, for example, the first chapter and this one are connected, and the next one will be the flashback that Daphne is referring to at the end of this one. Depending on the next series of prompts, I might add in a 4th chapter to this specific series of events.


	4. Adventure

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or its characters, I just write about them for fun. These characters belong to J.K. Rowling

School of Prompts: K3 Prompt – Adventure

Daphne joined Harry in the abandoned classroom that they frequented to practice for the tournament.

"So, Potter, when are you going to tell me about your adventures?"

Harry sighed; she wasn't going to stop asking until he fulfilled his portion of the deal. "Alright, how about I bring you on an adventure tomorrow? Wear something that you won't mind getting dirty."

The next day Daphne wondered what Potter would show her. She imagined that it would be the Chamber of Secrets, but couldn't imagine what Salazar's Chamber would look like: was it just a bunch of snakes? Perhaps it was like the Slytherin Common room, mostly green and silver. What would a founder of Hogwarts even put in a secret chamber? She was excited at the prospect of being the first Slytherin in that Chamber for some time.

A cold voice jolted her out of her ruminations. She noticed Professor Snape scowling: she was about to put too much ginger root into her wit-sharpening potion. With a quick quiet apology to the professor, she frowned at her inattentiveness and continued more diligently. That Potter boy was banished from her thoughts.

At the end of class, she handed in her potion, earning merely an Exceeds Expectations instead of the usual Outstanding. Snape even remarked about her lower than usual grade: "I expect you to pay full attention next class, Greengrass," he added with a stereotypical scowl.

She affirmed that she would, adding a curse towards Potter under her breath, before she strode out of the room.

Later that evening she met up with Potter in their usual training classroom. Potter told her that they were going to the first floor. "Potter, wait! I'll go first and you head out a little bit after me. Take a different route too. It wouldn't do for us to be seen together. It might bring unwanted attention."

Daphne headed out first and wound her way around the castle before finding herself on the first floor. She waited a few moments before Potter showed up with an old cloak wrapped around one arm and an old piece of parchment held in the other.

"No one is around here, we can go." He took off at a brisk pace down the corridor. Daphne followed and tried to keep up with his pace. She wondered how he could know no one was around.

Potter paused ahead at a door and glanced around before holding the door open and waving Daphne in. Daphne paused at the door, realizing it was a girls bathroom. She immediately drew her wand, ready to hex Potter.

"Is this some kind of prank, Potter?" Was Potter some kind of perverted deviant? "I don't care for any ' _adventure_ ' of yours in girls bathrooms or broom closets."

Harry held up both his hands. "This is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets."

Daphne narrowed her eyes, why would the Chamber be in a girls bathroom? "You first." She gestured towards the door with her wand, making sure that it was trained on the boy.

Harry shrugged slightly and walked in and went up to the sink leaning over it. Daphne watched with a bit of curiosity. She shivered slightly as Harry hissed at the sink. The hissing felt unnatural, especially coming from a human. She watched gobsmacked as the sinks rose up to reveal a pit in the ground. She was too busy watching the sinks to notice Harry going to one of the stalls and coming out with two brooms.

"Here, catch." His voiced broke her out of her amazement. She looked up and caught the broom that Harry had tossed at her. It was a Cleansweep five. She noticed that he had brought his Firebolt. "This is our way in and out. Hope you can fly."

With that Harry mounted his broom and headed down the shaft. Daphne followed after him, though significantly slower and very unsteadily. At the bottom she found Potter hovering over a pile of bones. He dismounted the broom and set it aside.

"There isn't much space down here to maneuver on brooms, so its probably better to walk." He waved her over and she dismounted and set her broom next to his. He looked at the passage and proceeded along. Daphne followed Harry as he clambered over a pile of rubble. With the sight on the other side, she paused. There was an impressively long length of shed snakeskin.

"Is that-"

"Basilisk skin."

"Basilisk?"

"Basilisk."

"Is is still alive?" Daphne immediately looked down, half expected a basilisk to just pop out of nowhere.

"No, I killed it."

He killed it. How did he kill a basilisk? He was only twelve years old then too! What was a bas-

"Come on, the Chamber is just up ahead," announced Harry. With Daphne's thoughts sufficiently interrupted, she simply nodded and followed. They came to a great metal door with snakes spreading out from the center. Daphne shuddered again when Harry hissed the command. She watched as a snake slithered around the outer edge of the door, unlocking the other snakes as it went around. With a loud click, the door swung open.

"The Chamber of Secrets," Harry presented. Daphne just stood there, trying to take in everything, but the only thing she would notice was the basilisk corpse lying in the center of the room.

– – –

A/N: There might be a continuation of this story cause I cut it a little bit shorter than I intended to (mostly so I can submit this and get the next set of prompts) though I also can't quite imagine what Harry and Daphne would do in the chamber aside from poking around.


	5. Hold your breath

Disclaimer: I make no claims of ownership to Harry Potter, the characters here belong to J.K. Rowling, I'm just writing these for my own amusement

School of Prompts: 1-1 Prompt: _underwater/just/hold_

* * *

"Harry come on, think of this as the third part of my apology."

"A third part? You don't need a third part. I already forgave you after the first and the second parts; I overreacted, it wasn't your fault."

"Dammit Potter, stop being so noble. I wanted to go through my entire apology before you forgave me!" Daphne dragged Harry along up the stairs towards the seventh floor. As they rounded the corner they noticed two first years standing around by the tapestry. Daphne and Harry stopped short as the door opened and Malfoy stepped out.

Three of the students in the corridor became acutely aware of the fact that Harry and Daphne were still holding hands. Daphne and Harry let go of each others hands and drew their wands.

Malfoy, part way through a cry of outrage, decided it would be wiser to run than to face the pair together. He muttered out a "run", and the two first years started to scramble after him. Two stunning spells flew out and nailed each of them back.

"Blast. Malfoy got away." Harry walked up to the two stunned bodies to check them out.

"Lets obliviate these two, if Malfoy is the only witness no one in the school will believe him." Daphne observed the two bodies. "I thought these two were still in the common room when I left. They couldn't have beat us here..."

Just then the skin seemed to morph on the two bodies. "Polyjuice potion." Harry recognized the effects from when he used it. Soon they were staring at the bodies of Crabbe and Goyle. Harry looked around for a place to put the two stunned students. "Broom cupboard." Harry pointed out with an evil grin.

He started dragging Goyle towards the broom closet. Daphne just rolled her eyes, and pointed her wand at Crabbe. A mobilicorpus allowed her to easily move the body, dropping it with a thud in the cupboard. Harry followed shortly afterward, seemingly remembering that he was in fact a wizard and had dropped the body of Goyle on top of Crabbe before closing the door.

Daphne took up Harry's hand again and walked them back in front of Barnabas the Barmy's tapestry. She let go of Harry's hand and began to pace back and forth. Harry took a step back and appreciated the cute way Daphne's brow furrowed and nose scrunched up when she was concentrating on something.

As Daphne finished pacing, a door appeared on the wall. She smiled and directed him in. Harry was completely surprised at what the room became. It was like a slice of a beach. The just past the door the floor became sandy and sloped into the water which had magical waves lazily lapping up the sandy shoreline. The roof of the room looked similar to the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall, but a sunny noon day instead. Even the temperature of the room was quite warm, and a light breeze seemed to fluttered through the room.

Daphne stepped forward and started to shed her robes. Harry watched gobsmacked as Daphne slowly revealed the skimpy blue bikini she was wearing under her robes; the bikini made her blue eyes pop. Harry noted the wand holster strapped to her thigh; at least she would never be caught without her wand.

Harry stared as Daphne turned around and struck a pose: hip cocked to one side and a hand resting on her hip. She basked in the attention that Harry was lathering on her for a while before giving him a wink and sashayed into in the water.

Harry blushed at the wink, and then realized that he may have been staring for a bit too long, tried to look at anything else.

"Are you going to join me?" She threw him a smirk, proud that even with the confidence he had gained in the past year she could draw out his more shy side. She may not have had the large chest of Susan Bones, or fiery personality that attracted Harry to Ginny at some point, but she had his attention now.

Harry suddenly seemed embarrassed about something. "I um... don't have swim trunks." Then he hastily added a "AndI'venevergoneswimmingbefore."

Daphne was surprised at this. "But what about the Triwizard tournament two years ago? You swam in the lake in the middle of winter!"

"That was my first time 'swimming' and it was mostly just kicking around with the Gillyweed."

"Here, I'll help you swim." She reached ducked underwater for a brief moment and came back up with her wand. With a wave his clothes came off except for his boxers. With another wave they were transfigured into swim trunks. "Here just come into the water. Remember you don't have Gillyweed this time, so you'll just have to hold your breath underwater." Daphne stowed her wand away and beckoned Harry into the water.

Harry greatly enjoyed Daphne teaching him the basics of swimming. They had the Room of Requirement stop causing waves in the water as it made it a bit difficult for Harry to learn, but before long Harry could tread water and could paddle around decently.

After a while Harry start feeling a bit mischievous. Harry started a splash war with Daphne, surprising her with the first strike and temporarily blinding her. Daphne let out a indignant squeak as she tried to wipe the water out of her eyes. She started splashing back only to realize that Harry had swum out of range. Daphne swam faster and quickly caught up to Harry and landed a splash right in Harry's face. Then she got a wicked idea. Taking a deep a breath and diving down underwater, she got beneath Harry.

Harry recovered from getting blinded by the water and search around for Daphne. She was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly he felt something grab his ankle and he got yanked beneath the surface. He flailed around a bit before he felt arms wrap around him in an gentle embrace. He opened his eyes underwater, ignoring the slight stinging sensation and discerned a distorted Daphne smirking at him. Suddenly she moved her head forward and locked her lips on his and quickly swiped her tongue across his bottom lip. Before he could react she broke the kiss and swam off to the surface.

Harry let out a surprised gasp—underwater—and drew in a mouthful of water down the wrong pipe. He kicked towards the surface and sputtered as he broke free. He was still coughing out the water in his lungs when he heard Daphne shout, "You were supposed to hold your breath underwater!"

Harry muttered out a "cheeky minx" before swimming after her towards the shore. "Can I accept your apology and forgive you now?" he asked her.

"Perhaps if I get the kiss you didn't return." Harry blushed but complied anyways. He wasn't going to complain.

* * *

A/N: Have a slightly longer piece, chronologically this takes place after the Daphne's prank of telling Witch Weekly some of Harry's secrets to get witches to like him more. Part two of her apology will probably make its appearance as a short in here at some time, and that one is probably a bit more serious and not as lighthearted as this. I'm still trying to figure out where the next two stories will fit into the time line, though one of them will probably be a bit farther in the future, and the other will probably be something during the 5th year, cause that is the year I haven't mentioned yet here. I might eventually also put these stories in order and fill in some of the gaps later, but that's undecided right now.


	6. Candles and Wonders

Disclaimer: Don't own any of the recognizable characters, I just create weird situations for them to be in for my own amusement. I don't make any money off of any of this.

Written for the School of Prompts Challenge

1-2: basic. candle. wonder.

Daphne briefly wondered what Pot—Harry's plans for tonight were. She had been there to console him after the disastrous date with Cho Chang, and then told him in no uncertain terms that he needs to get over Cho. To assist with that, she asked him to ask her out on a date.

She had absolutely no ulterior motives for getting Harry to ask her on a date. None. None at all.

Maybe.

Okay, maybe she did find Harry at least somewhat interesting. He did win the Tournament last year, and she enjoyed his company, but bloody hell did Harry need a kick in the arse when it came to girls.

Daphne was pleasantly surprised this morning when she found a note slipped into her pocket on the way to the Great Hall. *Be ready at our classroom at 7, and wear something nice*. She guessed that it would be a dinner or something like that.

Daphne showed up at the classroom, wearing a simple sleeveless green dress with silver trim. She opened the door and found Harry wearing a simple shirt and slacks, and an old cloak draped over his arm, the same cloak he seems to carry with him from time to time.

"So this is my invisibility cloak, its how I sneak around places." Harry lifted up his old cloak.

"So we are going to be sneaking somewhere?" Daphne inquired.

"To our date." Harry shuffled nervously, looking down at the floor. It never ceased to surprise Daphne that Harry, who could face down a dragon, would be nervous around girls. Especially considering the time he spent around Hermione. Daphne briefly considered that Harry didn't realize Hermione was a girl, but she was sure those thoughts were crushed after the Yule ball last year.

"Then lets go." Daphne motioned towards the door.

Harry glanced at the cloak and then glanced towards Daphne. "So... we are going to have to stand very close together for this to fit over both of us."

Harry looked a bit nervous and shy asking for permission to stand in close quarters. "No problem, Pot—Harry." Damn, slipped again. Old habits are hard to get rid of.

Harry perked up slightly and offered an arm to Daphne. She graciously accepted it before he threw the cloak over their bodies, huddling a bit closer. Daphne became acutely aware of Harry's scent as it encroached the air around them. There was the mild smell of Harry's cologne intermingling with the faint musty smell of sweat. Daphne also smelled a hint of something acidic and acrid.

Murtlap.

That's what it was. She remembered from the time her mother used it on her when she scrapped up her arm. Considering Harry was banned from Quidditch, she wondered what injury Harry sustained to require the pickled Murtlap essence. Daphne put it out of her mind as they started walking towards the Great Hall. Daphne tensed as they approached the hall, thinking that they were going to go inside. The number of people also made her nervous but Harry seemed comfortable skirting around the few students that came and went.

Daphne started to relax a bit when she realized they were heading outside. They headed towards the Whomping Willow, and part way there Harry pulled off the Cloak and moved to step away from Daphne to give her some space. She just kept a firm grip on his arm to keep him at her side. They stepped into the forested area and came to a small pond, on the other side Daphne spotted a small table, a small candle illuminating the neatly prepared table, plates and silverware all arrayed out.

"How did you get this out here?" Harry clearly had some romantic side, a candle lit dinner by a small pond.

"Dobby helped a lot. He also set up some simple wards to keep people and animals away. Come on." He gave her a small smile, and tugged her along the edge of the pond.

"Why would Malfoy's house elf help you out?" Daphne looked at him confused.

Harry's smile bloomed into a giant grin. "I freed Dobby, or rather, I tricked Lucius into freeing Dobby."

Daphne smiled too, remembering Malfoy's rant at the end of second year. Harry launched into the story of giving Lucius the diary with the sock in it after the Chamber of Secrets. As Harry finished the story, telling Daphne of Dobby blasting Lucius down the corridor, they arrived at the table.

Harry stepped up to the table and pulled out the chair for Daphne, then pushed it in after she sat down. As soon as Harry stepped away Daphne realized that it was quite chilly on this early spring evening. Noticing her shiver, Harry pulled out his wand and cast a warming charm on her. She smiled gratefully.

Dobby popped in once Harry was seated and started them on their dinner. Daphne enjoyed dinner, briefly sharing with Harry some basic stories from her family. She was careful to not share too much information, mostly harmless things like the funny stories involving her sister, Astoria. Harry didn't share many new things, just filling in some of the gaps in the stories of his first few Hogwarts years that he didn't tell Daphne before.

Daphne noticed that Harry never talked about his life before Hogwarts, and she suspected that the stories that pretty much everyone read as a child were a complete fantasy. Daphne made a note to try to get that information out of him later.

They soon finished their dinner and they got up. Daphne noted that it was pretty late and close to curfew. They got up and walked away as Dobby popped away the table and cleaned everything up.

They decided to separate at the front entrance to avoid running into other students.

"Thanks Harry, that was a pleasant meal."

"No problem Daphne, I had a great time too." He gave her a shy smile again.

Daphne hesitated a moment, before leaning in and giving Harry a quick peck on the cheek. Then she whirled around and walked off towards the dungeons. She didn't see Harry's smile morph into a smirk. Harry wrapped his cloak around himself and whisked off after Daphne to ensure that she would get to her common room safely.

A/N: As a note I'll be posting a multi-chapter story that I've started working on, so updates for this is slightly slower, but I will be updating both, constructive criticism always welcome!


	7. Of Youthful Habits and New Friends

Disclaimer: I don't any of these characters, just the situations they are magically put in. I don't make money off of this, I just write for my own amusement.

Written for the School of Prompts Challenge:

1-3: habit. youthful. Traitor.

Summary: In which Harry and Dumbledore talk about bringing someone new into the know about Voldemort and the prophecy and the likes.

* * *

"Sorry I'm late professor." Harry stumbled into Dumbledore's office quite a few minutes after the lesson was supposed to start. Harry was panting slightly from running across a significant part of the castle to reach the tower in time.

"Ah no worries Harry, might I ask what held you up?" Dumbledore gave him a gentle smile.

"I was... " Harry trailed off. Not sure what excuse to use.

"Ahh, so it was Miss Greengrass that held you up." Harry gaped at Dumbledore, how could he know? He was sure that no one but Hermione and Tracey knew about it at this point.

"How do you know about us?" Dumbledore's eyes sparkled with mirth.

"Just because the students don't aren't around, doesn't mean that the walls don't have eyes." Dumbledore just gave Harry a smirk when the realization struck Harry.

"The portraits! That's how you know everything that goes on."

"Of course Harry, now I hope you don't make it a habit of showing up late."

With that they started their lesson, diving through the memories of Voldemort, and watching what he did. Harry still didn't really get the lessons, he thought they should be learning spells and dueling tactics that would allow him to beat Voldemort, not quite this... looking through Voldemort's past. Harry knew that Voldemort had a disturbing past, one generally did when they went insane and tried to kill babies.

As the lesson drew to a close, Harry brought up something that had been on his mind for a short while now. "Professor, is it alright if I tell Daphne about these meetings? I think she would be able to spot things that I couldn't."

"Ah, I believe that is your judgment on whether you trust her enough. I know you've both become much closer in the recent months, despite your efforts at the end of last year."

Harry smiled and remembered the berating he got from Daphne. He had been moping around and brooding following the death of Sirius, and his mistake for causing it. He feared that the same would happen to Daphne, simple because she was his friend. Close friend at that point.

Harry tried to avoid Daphne for the last weeks of school. Unfortunately he underestimated the lengths that she would go for him.

"She gave us quite the scare when she stunned you in the corridor."

"You know about that?" Harry wasn't terribly shocked now, the portraits were probably watching him. Or likely some of the portraits watched out for these things in general. Harry's suddenly became confused. "Us? Who is us?

"The portraits and myself, of course. Some of the portraits were concerned for your well being. I went down to investigate." Dumbledore chuckled at the memory. "Ah the youthful energy some possess. I doubt I would have been able to keep up with an irate Miss Greengrass."

Harry couldn't suppress the blush, embarrassed he studied the ground. He had dropped his guard and found himself stunned, levitated to a room, and bound in a chair. He had received more than an earful, and it was much worse than any - perhaps worse than all of the times - that Hermione had berated him.

"Alas, I'm not so familiar with Miss Greengrass, so the decision to share this information is up to you. However, I would caution you to keep this information to a minimum number of people. However, I recognize that Miss Greengrass is rapidly becoming just as important to you as your other friends, so I cannot, in good conscience, forbid you from telling her. You must be sure of your decision though."

"Professor, sir, I'm sure that she wouldn't be a traitor. After the whole incident with the Teen Witch Weekly, she apologized and showed me her boggart. It was-"

Dumbledore raised his hands, interrupting Harry. "I'm sure that whatever she showed you is between you and her. She values you and trusts you a great deal to show you her fears. I'm sure that you also showed your new one in return?"

Harry nodded.

"Then that is between you and her. Remember Harry, help is always given to those who ask for it, and the more friends you have the easier your burden will be."

"But-"

"You may not want them to take up your burden, but true friends will happily shoulder it with you. Think on that." Dumbledore waved his wand real quick. "Ah. How late it is, it is past curfew. I trust you can make it back to your common room without getting seen?" Dumbledore gave him a knowing smile before waving his good hand to dismiss Harry.

Harry nodded and headed down the stairs, pulling on the cloak and heading towards the seventh floor, a special room with a special witch waiting for him.

* * *

A/N: A bit shorter than usual, but there we go. I think I'll write the boggart scene, because its been on my mind for a really really long time eventually. Depending on the prompts I get. If I don't get anything that matches, I'll probably write it anyways.

Chronologically this takes place probably a few weeks after the pranking incident (which I like to think leads up to Romilda Vane giving Harry the love potion laced Cauldron Cakes, and the canon events that happen there) and subsequent apologies and making up. Anyways, enjoy!

Edit: 6/26 fixed canon misspelling above in the A/N, I'll probably always get that wrong, thanks **rr3** for pointing that out to me!

Edit: 7/2 fixed would/wouldn't that **ZanyMuggle** for pointing that out to me.


	8. School Dance

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or make money off of them, I just write for fun and put them into strange situations

Written for the School of Prompts Challenge

2-1: Turquoise

As in the gown that Daphne wears to the 8th year Yule Dance

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=o=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

Harry paced back and forth in his room, slightly nervous for the upcoming dance. Headmistress McGonagall had decided to have a Yule Ball every year as a celebration. This would be the first year without the Triwizard Tournament as the reason to host the ball.

Harry headed out of the Gryffindor common room and headed towards the great hall. He was actually impressed with the rebuilding of Hogwarts, it happened over the summer, even with magic to help, it was impressive considering the damage Hogwarts took during the attack. Although Hogwarts was still missing quite a few suits of armor and there were plenty of gaps where statues once stood guard.

Harry arrived near the entrance to the great hall and then walked off towards the side to meet up with Daphne. He wrung his hands paced back and forth while waiting, hoping he wouldn't forget the dance lessons Daphne had been giving him. He heard the sound of heels clicking loudly against the ground and turned around.

Harry suddenly forgot how to breathe, his draw dropped. His eyes roamed up and down her body, trying to take in everything about her. Her dress was a strapless turquoise dress that clung tightly to her body. The heart shaped cut at the top of the dress emphasized her cleavage. Across the top right of the dress, a trickle of snowflake crystals were attached to the dress, it lined the top of the dress, following the heart shaped bump into the dip before streaming down towards her left hip, flowing like a sash. The stream of snowflake crystals merged seamlessly with the skirt of the dress.

The skirt! Where the bodice had hugged her waist tightly and emphasized her shapely figure, the skirt showed off her smooth legs. A sideways high-low skirt, it flared out in tiered ruffles. It was two layers, a translucent turquoise on top, and a very pale silver blue on the bottom. Her left thigh was practically completely bare – the skirt ended just below the hip – and the skirt swirled and spiraled its way around her. It hid most of her right leg from view.

Harry's eyes continued to trail down. She wore ballroom dance heels, though they were done up in a Greek style that made her look like a goddess. The thin silvery straps wound their way halfway up her calves.

Daphne paused in front of Harry, relishing in the attention that Harry gave her. He looked up from admiring the dress. She had only put on a light layering of makeup, nothing too serious. She noticed that Harry had finished admiring the dress – and her body – and gave him a quick twirl, showing off hair.

Harry enjoyed the way that she had kept her hair mostly down. A few strands of hair from the side of her head had be clipped back and kept the rest of her out of her face. Her hair clip sparkled in the light, keeping with the snowflake theme from the front of her dress, the clip was made up of three large intricately designed snowflakes. The rest of her hair cascaded down her back to her shoulder blades, ending in gentle curls.

"You trying to catch flies with your mouth?"

Harry's jaw snapped closed. He blinked once. And then blinked again. His brain finally rebooted.

"You look... gorgeous." Wow, that doesn't actually describe her well enough. Harry tried desperately to come up with something else.

"I suppose you'll have to do for now." Daphne replied, a hint of aristocratic snobbishness in her voice. She reached up and readjusted his turquoise bow tie.

Harry gave a mock look of horror and hurt. "I'll only do for now? But I'm the bloody Man-who-conquered!" Harry couldn't resist rolling his eyes at the title. He could only guess what other hyphenated name the Daily Prophet would come up for him later.

"You do clean up rather nicely." Daphne replied honestly. She took a deep breath.

"You sure you are ready for this? I know you suggested it, but we could keep our relationship secret for a bit longer. Then you can avoid the press and all the angry witches."

"No I think it's still the right time to. We don't have to worry about Voldemort anymore. Besides, I won't be the only one dealing with irate people, think of all the boys who will be angry at you for claiming me?"

Harry groaned at the thought of that. Probably mostly Malfoy being a jealous prat about it.

"Besides," Daphne said, "I think we've tortured Malfoy enough with our pranks. He's not sure if we are really together or if we hate each other."

Harry smiled as some of the memories came up from classes this year. Headmistress McGonagall really tried to bring more house unity, and that meant a lot of projects required students from separate houses to work together. They used that to play a fantastic prank on Draco.

"Very well, if you are ready?" Harry offered his right arm to her. She stepped up and took it and they headed towards the door. Before they opened it, Daphne stopped Harry, taking a deep breath.

"Hey Harry, I just wanted to let you know that..." Daphne trailed off.

"That...?" Harry prodded.

"That I love you." Daphne stated.

Harry just gave her a broad smile at that and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips, before whispering back in her ear, "I love you too."

With that they headed off into the Great Hall, slamming the doors open to get everyone's attention.

~==Turquoise==~

WC: 947

A/N: Have a super description of a dress. Also Turquoise is supposed to be symbolic of open communication and clarity of mind. So…. I don't know if I actually got that in here. So this introduces another scenario that I want to write about and that is Harry and Daphne playing mind games on Draco during their 8th year, after Draco gets all confused after spotting Harry and Daphne together 6th year.


	9. Black Family Home

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or make money off of them, I just write for fun and put them into strange situations

Written for the School of Prompts Challenge:

2-2: Black

As in the color of pretty much everything in Grimmauld place, when Harry brings Daphne there after the 8th year dance.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=o=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

With the ball just ending, the Christmas holidays began. McGongall had relaxed some of the restraints, and allowed pretty much the entire 8th year to start their holidays immediately after the dance - after a warning about being safe and not doing anything reckless.

Most of the 8th years either used the floo or apparated back to their homes. Harry took Daphne back to 12 Grimmauld Place.

"Can you believe their reactions?"

"Draco's was definitely the best." Harry replied, smiling at Draco's outburst once they walked in.

"I'm glad that Ron's reaction was pretty good too. Though I half expected him to go into some rant of Slytherins."

"Yeah, Ron really grew up after the battle."

"Hermione is good for him." Daphne commented.

"Yeah, totally. Well here we are."

"Where is your house?"

"Here." Harry pulled out a piece of parchment. Written on it was Black Family Home located at 12 Grimmauld Place. Daphne looked up to see the Building slid into existence between 11 and 13.

Harry led her to the door step and opened up the door.

"Why is the decor so... black?"

Harry snorted at Daphne's comment. "We are in the Black family home, most of their family liked the color black. Seems Si-Sirius and Andi were the two that didn't favor that color so much." Daphne didn't miss the hitch in Harry's voice at mentioning Sirius. She reached over and gave him a hug. She had told him repeated (since the end of his 5th year) that it was his fault.

"Come on, its late, let's get to bed. We have a free day tomorrow. We'll be busy the day after."

"But the day after is Christmas day. What are we doing then?" Harry looked up confused, thoughts of Sirius, Remus and Tonks temporarily out of his mind.

"You are joining me and my family for our Christmas Dinner."

Harry groaned at that. With the end of the war and all the celebrations and everything, Harry completely forgot about meeting his girlfriend's parents.

"Can we just resurrect Voldemort and kill him again?" At least Dark Lords were straightforward and easy to deal with.

"Harry! My parents will like you just fine. I'm not sure about Astoria though, she was quite angry that she only found out about us at the ball." Daphne looked thoughtful for a moment. "We'll deal with her later, off to bed!"

Daphne steered Harry forward a few steps, before looking Harry expectantly. Harry just looked at her confused.

"Lead on, I don't know my way around your house yet." Harry just laughed at that and lead them to the bedroom that he stayed in over the summers. Harry stripped out of his formal dress robes and looked at the bed before.

Daphne caught the sad look Harry got, she suspected that it was nightmares that he had most nights. She quickly stepped out of her dress too and reached over to the dresser and pulled out one of Harry's shirts. She pulled it on before marching over the Harry. She gently nudged him into bed. Harry just got in before noticing Daphne crawling into bed behind him.

"Uh Daph? What are you doing?"

"I'm going to sleep. Now shush."

"You do know that there is another bed right there right?" Harry pulled his hand from under the blanket and waved his hand in the general direction of the other side of the room. Harry blinked. Daphne had already turned off the light and she probably couldn't see his waving the inky blackness of the night.

Daphne swatted his arm. "Shush, its not like we haven't slept together before." Daphne suddenly realized what she said. "Its not like we haven't shared a bed for sleep before." She corrected. Daphne was thankful that the dark could hide her blush.

Harry likewise blushed at the thought. He let out a small cough before turning to face away from Daphne. Daphne took the opportunity and spooned up against Harry's back.

Harry let out a small groan. Curse this witch! Daphne just giggled lightly before attempting to go to sleep.

Moments later they both drifted off to pleasant dreams.

~==Black==~

WC: 714

A/N: Black, supposedly symbolic of mystery and protection. Not so much mystery here, but certainly some protection from nightmares here. No other real comments here. I think this is actually slightly weaker than the other two color prompts, I guess that's up to the you the reader/reviewers.

This is slightly shorter, but its okay, the next one is slightly longer!


	10. Valentines Day

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or make money off of them, I just write for fun and put them into strange situations

Written for the School of Prompts Challenge

2-3: Pink (as the tone for the story)

As in the tone and theme of Valentines Day, after the 8th year Yule Dance, first time Harry and Daphne are together as a public date

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=o=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

Tracey woke up bright and early on the day. It was Valentines day, and she was looking forward to spending it with her new boyfriend. She imagined the general good times that would come from going to Hogsmeade with him. Eating lunch at the Three Broomsticks, shopping through the new WWW that opened up over Zonko's, snogging in the back al-

Tracey's thoughts were disrupted by the sounds of moaning and groaning in the bed next to her, punctuated occasionally by a coughing fit and lots of sniffling. Tracey stepped over to Daphne's bed and pulled back the curtains.

"You look _awful_!" Tracey stated as she stared at the extremely pale Daphne shivering under three layers of blankets. Daphne attempted to muster up a glare at Tracey, but it just caused her to groan a bit more and break into another coughing fit.

"I feel awful." Daphne croaked out.

Tracey pulled out her wand and cast a few spells. She had spent most of this year helping out Madam Pomfrey, looking to get a head start on her healer training.

"Poor Harry."

"Poor Harry?" Daphne groaned out. "What about me?"

"Poor Harry losing his date to the common cold." Tracey ignored Daphne's groans and protests.

"Well, I'll go tell Harry that your first date after coming out at the ball is off and I'll get you a potion for your symptoms."

Tracey set a warming charm on the blankets, but Daphne continued to shiver in the blankets. No amount of warming charms and layers of blankets seemed to help her.

Daphne was just depressed that she got sick today. She too was looking forward to a regular date with Harry and friends, not the clandestine meetings they had all through 5th and 6th years. She also hated being sick because it made her feel weak and dependent on others.

Tracey came back in a short while later. With a swish and flick Daphne felt herself levitated out of bed. Tracey collected Daphne's wand from under her pillow and walked off with the blanket-cocooned Daphne.

"Tracey what are you doing?!" Daphne feebly asked. She just wanted to huddle in bed all day.

"I found Harry in the Great Hall, he refused to let you spend the day alone in bed, so he asked me to take you to him."

"But I look miserable."

Tracey just rolled her eyes. She walked out of the Slytherin Common room to find Harry waiting there for them.

"Here you are, one miserable Daphne, and her wand for when she feels better. Make sure she gets plenty of rest."

Harry took over the levitation and accepted the wand. He thanked Tracey and reassured her that Daphne would be well taken care of.

"Enjoy your day together! Alone. In a room. No one to bother you two." She shot Harry and Daphne a wink before skipping down the hall. Daphne just growled weakly at the retreating form of Tracey.

"You don't have to do this Harry."

"I want to do this."

Harry marched off levitating Daphne in front of him and after a short while they found themselves in front of the Room of Requirement. Harry paced back and forth three times and walked in.

Daphne was pleasantly surprised at the homely setting. A comfortable bed sat in one side of the room, next to a couch and a few armchairs arranged around a cozy fireplace, a few bookshelves lined the walls. The other side of the room was a comfortable, compact kitchen.

As soon as they walked in Harry levitated Daphne into the bed and Harry slid her under the blankets, adding a fourth layer to her cocoon. Harry then cast a warming charm on her. This time her shivering did lessen. Her brain said that it was because Harry was a stronger spell caster than Tracey—though a warming spell generally had nothing to do with strength—while her heart said it was something else entirely.

"You still don't have to do this." Daphne repeated

"Just rest, I'll take care of you for the day."

Daphne, too tired to argue drifted off to sleep. When she awoke her nose managed to barely pick up the smell of something sweet nearby. Her groaning alerted Harry as she wormed her way out of her cocoon. Harry set his book down on the table and got up from the armchair he was sitting on and made his way over to her bedside. He sat down on the edge of the bed as Daphne blinked sleepily around her. Her nose was still runny and her throat was still sore, but at least she wasn't as cold now and she wasn't coughing nearly as much now.

She noticed that Harry was trying extra hard to suppress laughter as he stared at the top of her head. She was suddenly aware that her hair was an absolute mess. "If you say anything about my hair, I will _end_ you." Harry's shoulders started shaking in silent laughter. Daphne's glare was significantly less scary with her hair looking like a scarecrow with stiff straw sticking out the top of the head.

Harry finally recovered from his amusement and adopted a more serious look. "Madam Pomfrey came by and gave me this potion. She also said that you need to get some fluids in you." Harry held up the potion that Daphne eyed wearily. She grabbed it and then downed it in one shot. She then proceeded to retch as the acrid potion made its way down her throat. She wondered if Pomfrey had mixed up her potions that tasted like mucus. Harry immediately handed her a glass of water that she downed immediately, grateful to wash the flavor off her tongue. Harry then held up a bowl of soup. Daphne went to grab the bowl and Harry just pulled it away.

"Nope. You rest."

"I can feed myself."

"You'll probably spill the soup all over yourself."

" _I can feed myself_." Daphne growled out through grit teeth.

"I will put you into a partial body bind to do this." Harry smirked at her.

Daphne glared at him. Harry's smirk didn't change.

Finally she relented.

Harry brought the soup back in front of her and spoon fed her. The soup warmed her up and filled her with a gentle heat that stopped her shivering altogether. "This is really good!"

"Thanks, I cooked it myself." Harry stated proudly.

"Kreacher didn't cook this? When did you learn to cook?" Daphne thought Harry had Kreacher cook everything for him.

"Oh I used to cook for my Aunt and Uncle, its much better when you cook for someone you care about though." Daphne felt another wave of warmth course through her, she hadn't had the next spoonful of soup though. "Besides, after Kreacher stocked up the kitchen in here I told him to enjoy the day off. I imagine he's hanging out with Winky right now."

By the end of lunch her cocoon was two layers thinner, and she was asleep again. Harry got up and set the dish in the sink and returned to the armchair to go back to reading.

The next time Daphne woke up she urgently tossed the blanket aside. Harry was by her side in a moment. She got up and stood up on shaky feet. She looked around the room and spotted a door fairly near her that wasn't there before.

"Here let me help you."

"I can take care of myself."

"You are barely standing."

Daphne scowled at Harry, then tried to walk towards the door—only to stumble. She was prevented from sprawling out on the floor by Harry's strong arms catching her. She begrudgingly let Harry support her to the door. Inside was the bathroom she expected.

Harry patiently waited outside, making sure that if Daphne needed any she just needed to call out. A short while later Daphne reemerged from the door.

"Can we go to the couch?" Harry just nodded in response and moved helped her to the couch. He gently laid her out on the couch and accio'd a blanked for her.

Harry sat down and Daphne scooted over so that her head was resting in her lap. She slowly dozed off again. Harry just smiled and gently stroked her hair as he went back to reading. This definitely wasn't a bad way to spend Valentines day.

That evening Daphne returned to her dormitory feeling much better. She got to her room and found Tracey there.

"Did you two actually go at it? You are practically glowing."

"What? No. Harry was just..." Daphne trailed off. "really nice," she muttered

"Knew you'd enjoy it!" Tracey cheered, before returning to a more serious expression. "So how did you get sick?"

Daphne's face immediately reddened. "We err- That is Harry and I uh..." Daphne paused, finding the ground extremely interesting.

"Spill!"

"We ended up pranking each other at the same time. In the same way."

"So?"

"So we ended up in a snowball fight in only our underwear." Thankfully no one else was around for that, otherwise it would have been truly embarrassing.

~==Pink==~

WC: 1523

A/N: Have some sugary sappiness for something? I think there is a spelling mistake or something somewhere in here that I missed because I hit auto-correct by accident on something. This is also slightly longer to make up for the slightly shorter previous chapter.

Some of you may have noticed that my summary for this doesn't actually match what I wrote. I wrote the summary for this expecting myself to write about a regular date and stuff, and then my brain just steered me in a completely different direction. Pink is symbolic of love, compassion, and nurturing. So I think I hit all three of those here.

Anyways that's it for the color prompts. I may write the pranking incident mentioned just above later. Most of these are dependent on the prompt I get. I probably got these out faster than usual just to be the first person to graduate the basic education level.

As a side note, this will probably not get an update in a couple of days as I work on **A Study in Magic** (my other story go check it out / _shameless self-plug_ ). For people who are here because they are DaphnexHarry fans, I will tell you that at some point that story will feature this pairing too, although both Harry and Daphne will have slightly different personalities from the ones here also, they won't actually be shipped together until much much much later. They'll be friends and they are both main characters of that story though.

Edit: 6/26 replaced Dobby with Kreacher cause canon things.


	11. To Unity

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and don't make money off of this. I just put characters places and they seem to do things on their own.

Written for the School of Prompts Challenge:

3-1: The Three Broomsticks. (needs to be ¼ of the setting)

The place where Harry and Daphne finally manage to go on a date, with some other friends involved. (1/4 of the date, other places being probably the new WWW shop and Honeydukes, and carriage ride there)

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=o=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

Harry glanced around at the group that they were sitting with, on their carriage ride to Hogsmeade. They were a packed full with six people. Daphne leaned against Harry, her head resting on his shoulder. Tracey sat next to her friend, across from Astoria. Hermione sat next to Astoria, creating a small buffer between her and Ron.

"So you two finally get your date together in Hogsmeade. How long have you two waited for this?"

"Who says we haven't been in Hogsmeade together before?" Harry shrugged, giving a small smirk.

"But Daphne never went to any Hogsmeade weekends when you went and you never went to any..." Tracey narrowed her eyes as she trailed off. "That's why you would sneak off half the time, especially near lunch." She pointed an accusing finger at Daphne. "You ran off with Harry under the invisibility cloak huh?"

Daphne didn't say anything, though she had a small smile tugging at her lips. Harry just gave their friends a smirk. They bumped around along the road and talked about the various events that occurred in class. Eventually they arrived at edge of the Village. Ron stepped out, helping Hermione out of the carriage. Harry got out, helping Daphne, Tracey, and Astoria out, before holding hands with Daphne.

"So where do we go first?" Astoria asked the group. Her two of her friends had dates today, so she decided to hang out with her sister and their group.

"How about Three Broomsticks," Ron suggested.

"Its too early for that, we'll go during lunch," Harry replied.

"Honeydukes?" Ron offered again.

Hermione let out an exasperated sigh. "Honestly Ron, do you ever think of a store that isn't food related?"

"Oi! I can think of other things to: you know, like WWW. I hear George is trying to open a shop here. They took over Zonko's old store"

"Alright, lets go check out their shop, if we're lucky George and Angelina might be there too."

They arrived to find the shop was not quite ready yet. The front of the store was the same neon orange that stood out in Diagon Ally, bringing a splash of color to an otherwise earthly colored village.

The storefront was plastered with overlapping posters of announcements of the Grand Opening of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes two weekends from now. Another Hogsmeade weekend, to capitalize on the flood of students that will be there.

They six paused outside the store and pondered what to do. "Well, looks like the shop isn't open yet. Where to now?"

"We can listen to Ron's suggestion of Honeydukes and pick up some sweets."

Just as the group turned to leave the door creaked open behind them. "Where do you think you're going Harrikins?"

Harry smiled and turned around. "Hello George, a little bit surprised to see you here."

"Of course, we have to prepare for the Grand Opening. Come in, check out the store! Angelina's back there too."

They walked into the store, and were greeted by a similar interior to the Diagon Ally store. Shelves were lined with all sorts of goods, from the standard dungbombs and sugar quills, to some of WWW more specialty stuff. Peruvian Instant Darkness powder made and appearance, as well as boxes stacked to the ceiling of Skiving Snackboxes.

The group split up to explore the inside. "You guys can buy anything, think of it as business partner bonus. Any friend of Harry's gets special treatment here."

Astoria went to check out the various prank supplies, collecting some dungbombs and skiving snackboxes into a basket. She seemed to ponder over some other objects, before grinning wickedly and adding a portable swamp to the basket. She wandered over to the fireworks section, and observed a firework that had it's fuse lit, but never seemed to go off. She collected some fireworks too.

Tracey found her way over to the WonderWitch products and eyed the love potion wearily, before she headed off to observe the Pygmy Puffs. She found them amusing, but didn't buy anything there. She got bored and strolled over to see what Astoria had collected. One look at the basket she was carrying and she made a vow to not anger the witch.

Hermione and Ron made their way over to the defense products Hermione looked through the products to figure out what they did and how they did it. She found the shield hats and shield cloaks very intriguing. Ron just stood by her side, looking a little bored. He almost grabbed a Skiving Snackbox, but backed off at Hermione's glare.

George stuck with Harry and Daphne. They were shortly joined by Angelina.

"So you must be the Daphne that Witch Weekly is quite cross with."

Daphne nodded at that. "Pleasure to formally meet your Johnson, and Weasley."

"Please call me Angelina, no need to be formal here, any friend of our brother Harry here is a friend of ours."

Daphne acquiesced to that.

"Now, you can get anything you want for free. We aren't sure what you see in Ickle Harrikins here, but we know you are certainly the brains - and the looks behind Harry." George shot Harry a wink.

Harry opened his mouth to protest, but Daphne preempted him. "Harry go make sure Tori hasn't bought out half the store yet. We can't have them losing too much business on account of her pranks."

Harry just grumbled out and stalked over to find Tracey and Astoria. Astoria had indeed had an overflowing basket at that point and was struggling, even with the lightening charms on the basket.

"Well, we clearly know who carries the wand in this relationship," George stage whispered to Angelina, making sure that Harry heard him. Harry just gave him a glare over the shoulder.

Harry gathered his friends and George and Angelina gave them a small tour and pointing out some of the new products. Mostly new lines of celebration fireworks and flimsy Voldemort dolls that could be spelled for target practice.

Eventually they left, Astoria putting her stuff on Daphne's tab, getting pretty most things for free (Harry still slipped some galleons to George who just left them on the counter). Ron had to pay normal price—Half off for being a friend of Harry and twice the amount for sibling surcharge. Ron grumbled about it, but it was mostly for show. George had paid him a bit extra when he helped out the shop during the summer.

The group headed out, mostly just Astoria encumbered by her purchases. They headed to Honeydukes and picked up some various sweets. Daphne stopped Astoria from buying anything there, as she would have had to carry it up to the castle herself. Harry thought for a moment, before calling out the Kreacher to pop all of Astoria's things to her room. Astoria just thanked Harry before running through the shop and grabbing her various favorite treats. Daphne grumbled about Harry spoiling Tori.

After they came out of the shop Harry had Kreacher bring all of their things back to their dormitories. They finally headed out to Three Broomsticks for lunch. Harry came in to the shop and was surprised by the large table that occupied most of the center of the inn. Most of the booths around the edge of the store were already filled with third and fourth years talking in quiet groups.

Tracey and Tori just shrugged and sat down at the large table, Harry shrugged and sat down too, forced to sit in the center as Daphne dragged him there. Hermione and Ron filled in the seats opposite Harry and Daphne.

"What would you like to eat dears?" Madam Rosmerta came over to get their orders.

Orders went around, most of them getting butterbeer and something light to eat. Eventually the reason for the large table became clear, though Harry wasn't sure if it had been planned or if it was just a coincidence. Neville wandered in with Hannah and immediately sat down next to Harry. Susan came in shortly after and sat down across from Hannah.

Draco and Blaise walked in together. Harry greeted Draco with a nod and Daphne waved to Blaise. Ron let out a pained groan and Harry saw that Hermione had tightened her grip on Ron's arm. Harry guessed that the groan came from Hermione stomping on his foot under the table. They took the seats across from Astoria and Tracey. Ron just refused to look in their direction.

Ginny and Luna then came in together taking up the various seats that remained. Soon everyone had food and drink in front of them, and the various people started making conversation. Soon chatter and laughter filled the inn.

"Feels wonderful to have a group of friends that can let loose like this right? Even Granger is having a good time without studying." Daphne whispered in Harry's ear.

Harry gave a grin at that comment. "This feels a bit like a family gathering, awkward uncle included." Harry nodded towards Draco, who looked a little bit uncomfortable, but still enjoyed talking to Astoria. "Looks like Dumbledore and McGonagall's efforts at unity paid off a little. We have every house represented at the table."

Harry felt a little bold, and was in a good mood seeing all his friends also having a great time stood up and raised his glass. "A toast, to friends! I hope we can gather like this for a long time to come." He raised his glass and nodded to each and everyone one of them, including Draco. Draco gave a small curt nod back as they all raised their glasses.

Harry sat back down and Daphne patted his arm. "You'll need to work on better speeches when you are Minister of Magic."

Harry gave her a small glare. "Whatever your ambitions for me may be, I will not be Minister of Magic."

Daphne frowned at that, "Fine, then when you are Head of the DMLE."

Harry agreed to that. "Any plans you may have for me as Minister of Magic, you should adapt them to Hermione. I'm sure she would love to be the first muggleborn Minister of Magic." Hermione nodded at that.

Neville, sitting next to Harry heard the entire exchange. "So, planning your next great adventure already Harry? A coup to take over the Ministry of Magic? I can get behind that!"

"With 5 Slytherins here, I'm sure it'd be rather easy to come up with a plan for it. It certainly is an ambitious idea" Blaise added in.

"And with 6 Gryffindors to lead the way-" Ron started.

"To bumble in without a plan?" Daphne appended. Ron frowned at that.

"Two Hufflepuffs, working hard!" Susan added in before Ron could come up with a retort.

"And Two Ravenclaws to make sure you have all the facts you need." Astoria added in.

"To unity?" Hermione offered.

"To unity." Everyone replied.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=o=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

WC: 1814

 **A/N:** Huh, so that actually turned out a bit differently than I had originally imagined. Though I liked the idea of Harry and group making plans to take the MoM by storm. I'll probably add stories that show how Harry/Daphne meet with some of the various people for the first time (or for the first time after the battle in Draco's case). Also, I think it would be interesting to write another story of after the takeover of the Ministry and how everyone's dynamic changes in that time.

This group is sadly short of Ravenclaws (Astoria and Luna are the only two), and…. I don't know if I'm going to add anymore to this already fairly large group. That being said, I also need to find pairings for the unpaired characters so far (Blaise, Tracey, Susan, Ginny, and Luna). If there is a pairing you would like to see regarding those characters, I'm open to suggestions.

Anyways, this was sort of an illustration of the people recovering after the war. A year to grieve for those lose to the war, Harry, Susan, Ron, and Hermione might not have fully recovered yet, but they are on their way, and their friends will try to make sure they have a good time.


	12. A Sign of Trust

A sign of trust

Written for the Hogwarts House Challenge Drabble Club + Quidditch Club

Prompts:

Quidditch Club: "Chocolate and flowers won't fix this."

Drabble Club: boggart

Summary: Daphne attempts to earn back Harry's trust after a prank gone slightly wrong.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=o=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

Tracey just sat there, shocked that Daphne had seen the inside of the Chamber of Secrets. She carefully observed Daphne, she was still spaced out, clearly dreaming of Potter and the Chamber. Tracey snapped her finger and front of Daphne and she came out of her trance.

"What am I going to do?"

"Well what exactly did you do to Potter?"

"Well... I," she hesitated.

"You..." Tracey urged her to continue.

"I told some of Potter's secrets to Teen Witch Weekly." Tracey widened her eyes at this, and shot a glance towards the magazine still sitting on the table.

"So you are the one who did that," said Tracey. "I wondered how they got information that I didn't have, and Granger and Weasley wouldn't do this sort of thing."

Daphne glanced up, confused for a moment. "Information that you don't have? What information do you have on Potter? Don't you just gossip and stuff?"

"You think I just gossip with others for fun? I'm not like those Gryffindors Brown and Patil." Tracey crossed her arms and looked offended. "Besides, it's amazing what Granger mutters to herself while walking down to the library. She said some interesting things today. Looks like Potter told her what happened."

"What?! What did she say?" Daphne demanded an answer, and Tracey just looked smug.

"That information is going to cost you a favor!"

"What? I'm your friend. Besides, you owe me for that potions assignment that you copied from me."

"Of course, your my friend, but I didn't forget the time you held that potion assignment over me and demanded a favor in return. Besides that was just a _small_ favor. This is a _large_. favor Like potentially the love of the rest of your life large. Besides, you would do the same to me if things were reversed."

Daphne cursed her and her friend's Slytherin tendency for once. _Damn, I've been spending too much time with Harry_. She just gave up. "Fine, I owe you a _small_ favor, and you don't owe me anything."

Tracey smiled at that. "Deal!"

"So what did Granger say?" Daphne asked impatiently.

"Oh just something about stupid Slytherin girls betraying Harry and handing him over to Voldemort."

"What? That's something Weasley would say, not Granger!" Tracey just burst out laughing at that.

"Alright, fine that's not what she said, but she did say stuff about betraying Harry's trust. I know Potter is a really private guy. He rarely tells his secrets to anyone. So because you told some of Harry's secrets you really betrayed his trust. Chocolates and flowers won't fix this."

"I knew that already!"

"Then you just have to get back his trust. There is an easy way you could do it. Nick some veritaserum from Snape's stores and drink it and have Potter ask you some questions. Of course, that might be spilling too much information."

Daphne thought about it for a moment. What could she do that would give Harry honest information about herself, but not too much. She remembered a story of Harry's third year.

Daphne found herself in a classroom by herself, staring at the shaking chest in front of her. She mentally prepared her self. She tried to think of something funny, but nothing could come to mind.

The door opened behind her and she turned around. Harry stared at her for a bit.

"I'm sorry-" they both said at the same time.

They shared a small smile at that. "You first." Harry said to her, gesturing her to continue.

"I'm really sorry about the whole sharing your secrets thing, I knew you wanted your privacy. I guess because I never pranked anyone before... Well, I'm sorry about this whole mess."

"I'm sorry too, I guess I just overreacted. You didn't put anything harmful there, and it wasn't like the slander that Skeeter wrote two years ago. I shouldn't have overreacted like that. Can you forgive me?"

"Dammit Harry, I'm supposed to be the one apologizing, and you should be forgiving me! I messed up. Stop making this about you." She slapped his arm.

"Fine. I forgive you."

Daphne crossed her arms. "Stop being so noble and trusting. You don't even know if I'm sincere or not!"

"Knowing you, you had some plan to show that your apology is sincere." Harry smirked. It was a partial smirk, it didn't quite light up his face like the ones from a few days ago. Daphne realized that she had really hurt him. "And because you put the effort into this, I'll withdraw my forgiveness until after whatever you do."

Daphne opened her mouth. "O-"

"As long as you ask my apology first."

Daphne glared at him. "Fine. I forgive you for your overreaction. Now can I do this?"

Harry nodded, gripping his wand under his cloak. He had checked the map to make sure that no one else was nearby, so whatever was in that chest wasn't a person. He still prepared for some creature to come out.

Daphne waved her wand and the chest unlocked. Harry was extremely surprised to see a Death Eater step out of the chest. He had his mask on so Harry couldn't tell who it was.

"You are going to tell me everything you know about Potter!" Daphne paled at that. She clearly recognized the voice. "Here, I'll even be kind and offer a trade. Potter for your sister."

The Death Eater reached back into the chest and pulled out a girl who was bound and gagged. She had some bruises on her arms and face, and had been crying a lot recently.

Daphne closed her eyes when she saw her sister. _This isn't real. Its just a boggart. Tori is still safe in the library or where ever. Something funny. Anything funny_.

"Still not going to say anything. Very well, I'll just have my way with dear Astoria here, it'll give you some time to think."

Daphne just stared, petrified.

She suddenly found herself on the floor. Harry had knocked her aside, taking her place in front of the boggart. This knocked Daphne out of her daze. She watched as the Death Eater and Astoria disappeared in a circle of color, before being replaced by a different scene.

"This is your fault!" an angry Ron and Hermione were yelling at Harry. Daphne looked around and the floor behind them was littered with bodies, all with the same look of horror etched on their faces. A body that looked like an older Harry, a redhead with piercing green eyes. Some Weasleys. Even Professor Lupin and a few others that Daphne didn't recognize.

"Maybe if you died, they would have all lived!" Ron and Hermione were replaced by Daphne herself, but she looked absolutely livid.

"I-"

Harry interrupted what boggart Daphne was about to say. "No! RIDDIKULUS!"

Boggart Daphne suddenly found a copy of a magazine in her hands. The headline read HOGWARTS ICE QUEEN, CLOSET ROMANTIC?

Daphne blushed as she saw the title and giggled slightly. Harry then banished the boggart back into the trunk and locked it.

He went over and gathered Daphne in a hug. "Are you alright?"

She just nodded. She felt Harry brush away a tear. She didn't realize she had been crying after facing her boggart.

"Thank you for trusting me to see your boggart. I forgive you."

Daphne gave a weak smile at that. "I expect you at Room two days from now."

"Two days from now? Our fortnightly date isn't until next week."

"Think of it as the last part of the apology."

"I already forgave you."

"Just accept it."

"Fine."

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=o=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

WC: 1269

A/N: Ahh, broke the chain of School of Prompts challenges (having just a tiny bit of trouble with the next prompt). So have the boggart scene that I've hinted at quite a few times before. Those of you who also paid close attention to the introduction chapter also already know the titles of the next two stories. Anyways, enjoy!

Also, really, I should have entered in the 100 little things challenge too, because I'm like slowly getting each and every one of those too.


	13. Muggle 101

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=o=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter, just putting the characters into situations they've never been in in the books.

School of Prompts: Setting: A Movie Theater.

Drabble Club:

Quote: "When the going gets tough, the tough go clubbing." - Tony DiNozzo, NCIS

Quidditch Pitch:

Dialogue: "Charming? Well, the level of delusion some people live under is astounding."

Harry shows Daphne some small slices of the muggle world while taking a small break from hunting Horcruxes.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=o=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

Daphne was surprised when she heard a knock on the door. No one triggered the wards, and only so few people were actually keyed to them to allow them in without warning. She set down her book gently and went up to the door. She pulled out her wand and slowly opened the door.

"Harry! Wha-" she stopped herself. Harry shouldn't be here.

"What was the first thing I said to you in the Chamber of Secrets?"

"'How aren't you dead?'" replied Harry. "What did you say to after I first asked you out?"

Daphne smiled "'Charming? Well, the level of delusion some people live under is astonishing.' I can tell you that you are much better now than before." She wrapped Harry in a crushing embrace.

"What are you doing here?"

"It's too much. I need a small break. Just for one day." Daphne noticed the bags under his eyes. He was definitely exhausted, and haunted by something.

"Harry you can't go on a break. This is going to end the war! Stop You-know-who." She whispered to him, her voice was muffled by his shoulder. She leaned back slightly to look him in the eyes. "This is for the future, the Wizarding world's future..." She paused again, then added in barely a whisper, " _our_ future."

"I just need a small break, one evening. Go out on a date with me?"

Daphne looked at him. "Alright, one night. But then you better kick that tosser's arse. Find his little trinkets, I'll keep you updated on everything else."

-v-

"We aren't going to a club with you wearing that." Harry stated. Daphne was amazed how much he had perked up when she agreed to go with him on a date—in the middle of a war.

They acknowledged that they couldn't go into the Wizarding world, so Harry was now showing Daphne around muggle London. Their first stop was a department store to actually pick up some muggle clothes for Daphne.

She took one step in and looked around in amazement. "They have all these choices?"

Harry chuckled. "These aren't tailor fit like your robes are, but they do have a lot more choices."

Daphne dove through the clothes, picking out the shirts and jeans that she liked and handing them to Harry. After she collected a sizable chunk of clothes, she sat Harry down in front of a changing room and proceeded to give Harry a private fashion show. She asked his opinion on every single outfit and Harry was delighted to tell her how nice she looked in every outfit.

Eventually they finished and Daphne bought pretty much every outfit she had tried on. She changed into a soft V-Neck t-shirt and a comfortable set of jeans, blending in with muggles much better.

As they left Harry called for Dobby.

"Yes Master Harry Potter sir? You be calling Dobby?"

"Dobby, I need you to take these clothes to Daphne's room in Greengrass Manor."

"Anything for great master Harry Potter sir!" Harry rolled his eyes at the title, and Dobby eagerly grabbed the clothes and vanished with a small crack.

"Where to next?" Daphne inquired, still admiring the comfortable way the clothes fit on her. She vowed that she wouldn't wear the stiff, formless witches robes unless she had to.

"We have some time, how about a movie?"

"Whats a movie?"

"Purebloods," muttered Harry. Then louder, he said, "You'll see."

-v-

"Popcorn?" Harry offered Daphne.

"I have a figure to keep," she replied, giving him a small glare. Then she reached over and grabbed a single piece and popped it into her mouth.

Harry looked slightly amused, he shrugged and then continued munching on it.

"So isn't this just like a wizard photo? What's so special about that?"

"Its longer, and it tells an actual story."

The lights dimmed in the theater and the movie started. Daphne was enraptured by the film. It was the story of a poor American artist and a rich young lady who was going to marry some rich snob, all aboard an unsinkable luxury cruise ship.

Harry ended up spending more time watching Daphne than really watching the film. He enjoyed watching her reactions as it shifted through surprise and awe, wonder and sadness, and a whole range of emotions.

"That was fantastic! Are there other movies like that?"

Harry laughed, "I'll show you Star Wars next time. It's an interesting movie, though its not a romance like this one. Come on, the time is about right. Let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"Clubbing."

-v-

Harry and Daphne finally stepped into the club, after waiting a few hours in a line. Harry checked the time real quick and noticed that it was fairly late and that he would probably be yelled at by Hermione for staying out so late.

"They call this dancing?" Daphne yelled over the pounding beat of the music.

"Did you expect a ballroom?"

"No, but I expected something a bit more elegant than hopping up and down!"

"Look, come on. Just move your body to the beat of the music!" Harry dragged Daphne out onto the dance floor. Daphne felt a bit awkward there, and felt that there were far too many people brushing up against her. She refrained herself from grabbing her wand from where it was hidden in her sock and hexing the people that seemed to brush up against her.

Harry started swaying to the beat of music, he wasn't nearly as energetic as some of the others, but he was clearly moving his body to the music. Daphne glanced around, observing some of the other people. She watched their movements, some of them just swaying back and forth, others jumping wildly around, hands flaying around in the air.

She slowly started swaying her body too. That got a reaction out of Harry. His face lit up with a smile as he watched Daphne slowly start to relax and dance with him.

-v-

Daphne stumbled out of the apparition. She leaned up heavily against Harry's body. She felt Harry's strong arms wrap around her and she felt herself being lifted and carried off through her house. She was deposited in her bed before immediately falling asleep—exhausted and inebriated from the club.

Harry muttered a thanks to her before heading back out, preparing for the scolding from Hermione for staying out so late—err... early. The sun was just starting to rise.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=o=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

WC:1079

A/N: Hmm… I think I slacked off on this one slightly. I couldn't quite… get the feel for this story + setting combo, and it went through a few iterations and I'm still not quite happy with this. I'll probably make a re-write of this one later. Anyways, tell me what you think I could do better in this one!


	14. Great Hall Reactions

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=o=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=  
 _Disclaimer_ : I do not own Harry Potter, I just put them into circumstances that I would like to see characters in and watch what happens.

Written for the School of Prompts: 3-3: The Great Hall  
Also Hogwarts House Challenges, Quidditch Pitch: Dialogue: "Stop that right now!"

The 8th year Yule ball! And everyone's reactions to it. Other half of the setting is the Hogwarts courtyard for Harry and Daphne sort of alone time.  
=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=o=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

Tracey managed to worm her way through the crowd that had gathered in the great hall. She had lugged along a confused Blaise behind her. He had no idea where Tracey was taking him. Finally she located the person that she was looking for.

"So you think they are actually going to show up?" Tracey asked Hermione.

Hermione nodded. "They are probably outside right now. Getting ready to come in."

Blaise looked between them, confused. "Who are you talking about, and since when did you two become friends?"

Ron, standing next to Hermione, noticed who she was talking to. "What are you doing Hermione? Why are you talking to these snakes?"

"Honestly Ronald." Hermione said exasperatedly. "Stop that right now! They haven't even insulted you yet and you are suspicious of them?"

"Well yeah, they're still snakes! You can't trust them."

"I thought we got over all this after the war. Look Weasel—err, Weasley—we won't insult you and you don't insult us okay?" Blaise offered. Ron narrowed his eyes as if trying to find some deception in that. Blaise just rolled his eyes and moved on. "Back to my original question."

"We have some… mutual friends of friends, and they are the ones that are outside right now." Tracey answered.

"Who… I mean, you only hang out with Slytherins and the only one who isn't here right now is Greengrass, and Granger only hangs out with Pot-" Blaise's eyes seemed to cross for a moment, his brow furrowed. "There is no way they are out that door together."

Tracey giggled. "They did a good job of hiding it didn't they?"

Ron was just looked confused as to what was going on. "Harry found a date?"

Blaise still didn't believe Tracey, "But what about that first potions class where they had to work together. They nearly started hexing each oth-"

The doors to the Great Hall slammed open. It caught the attention of everyone in the room and they looked at the couple that walked in. Quite a few gasps were heard throughout the hall, and some people dropped the glasses they were holding. The people in the hall realized Harry had a date, it was who that date was that surprised them. Hanging on Harry's arm, in a gorgeous turquoise dress and molded to his body, was none other than Daphne Greengrass.

Quite a few of the girls in the Hall had cycled through confusion and jealousy at Daphne. _Didn't they hate each other during that potions class?_

Harry and Daphne ignored the shocked gasps and surprised looks and made a beeline Tracey and Hermione waving to them. As they arrived Blaise looked quite surprised and Ron was just gobsmacked. He just started to recover.

"Harry, when did you start going out with _a snake?_ " Harry tried not to roll his eyes at that. Daphne just glared a bit a Ron.

"When did this happen?" Blaise asked, curious how Daphne managed to sneak in a relationship in the house that listened most closely to rumors.

"Oh sometime around fifth year."

"See, I told you they were together. I told you guys 2 years ago!" Draco had come up to the group, dragged along by Astoria.

"Yeah well no one believed you because you were acting so strangely that year." Blaise replied.

Astoria, meanwhile, glared at her sister, and then glared at Harry. "Why didn't you guys tell me?" Angry at her sister and Harry for hiding their relationship.

"We had good reason to hide it, with Voldemort and everything going on!"

"Fine, you two can tell the story of how you got together when you meet our parents Harry," Astoria said. "I assume you will be over for Christmas, no?"

Harry paled at that. Daphne just laughed. "Its alright, I'm sure mother and father won't hate you." She patted Harry on the arm.

"I see you two have finally cleared the Wrackspurts and told everyone of your relationship." Everyone but Harry looked confused at Luna's the statement. Harry just chuckled slightly.

"How did you find out Luna?"

"The Nargles told me. They told me a few years ago. You two seemed to have been caught under a lot of mistletoe that year. The Nargles were quite unhappy that their nests were moved around so frequently." Luna directed her gaze at Daphne for a moment.

Tracey snorted, barely stifling a giggle; Daphne blushed slightly at that. Daphne had to figure out how Luna found out about these things.

The conversation continued from there, though occasionally Harry and Daphne would get some witch or wizard to walk up to them and congratulate them on their relationship or something along the lines of that. Some were just there to pick up gossip and find out how they started out. Only a few pointedly stayed away from the pair, witches casting dirty looks at Daphne, wizards casting dirty looks at Harry.

Harry and Daphne shared a few dances before they escaped out into the courtyard, mostly to get away from the crowd and just spend some time alone.

"Am I really going to have to meet your parents?"

"Harry, stop worrying, they'll like you, you're the bloody slayer of Voldemort. That ranks you as probably the best suitor possible."

"Should I be expecting a marriage contract owled to me?" Harry joked.

"Yes. You probably will have one mailed to you." Daphne said seriously.

"What? Marriage contracts, after the whole war and the pureblood stuff?"

"That doesn't erase thousands of years of traditions Harry." Daphne sighed. "These things are probably going to be around for a while. Even if Draco and Tori are more open than their parents, they were still raised on those beliefs."

"Does that mean I'm going to have to still put those practice ridiculous manners you taught me fifth year?"

"Yes, Harry it does."

"As my lady wishes." Harry gave a small bow. "Shall I escort you through the courtyard here?" He gestured through the courtyard before offering her his arm.

Daphne giggled softly at Harry's antics. "My, such a gentleman. I'd be most pleased if you escorted me."

They took a short walk just around the outskirts of the courtyard, avoiding some of the other couples that had gathered in the on the benches arranged around. They took the time to admire the decorations the teachers had setup out there. The teachers had also set up a small warming charm in the area, so the courtyard was a comfortable temperature; none of the students would have come out if they had to brave the frigid air.

"So Luna says you are the one behind all the mistletoe that I encountered sixth year?"

Daphne took sudden interest in her shoes. She marveled at how comfortable they were, especially while dancing. She was _really_ glad that she didn't wear the standard high heels some of the other girls wore. Some of them had taken off their shoes and just complained about their feet halfway through the ball.

"I doubt your shoes are that interesting."

Daphne snapped her head up and glared at Harry. The effect lost slightly as her cheeks were still rosy from the blushing. Harry just laughed at that.

"I had to find some way to get you over your fear of kissing girls. You would barely look at girls—who weren't Hermione—after that disastrous date with Cho." Daphne was disappointed that it didn't earn a reaction from Harry. She must've teased him too much about that date to have an effect on him anymore.

"Anyways, seeing how the ball is likely ending soon. Care for one last dance, my lady?"

Harry bowed deeply, and then offered his hand to her. She gave a deep curtsey and took his hand. Even without music they relished in the contact with each other, holding each other close. They danced the rest of the night, until McGonagall had come out to announce that the ball was over.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=o=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=  
WC:1356  
A/N: Hmm… Not quite satisfied with this, but it'll have to do for now. I had some different plans for some of the scenes, but then realized that Draco probably wouldn't react the way I wanted him to.

Anyways, finally done with these setting prompts, time to move on to the genre prompts; probably going to be the hardest set of prompts for me!


	15. The Chamber of Adventures

School of prompts: [Genre] Adventure

Drabble club: [Creature] Ashwinder

Quidditch Pitch: [Sentence] He couldn't believe what he saw.

Summary: Harry and Daphne explore the unknown hidden depths of the Chamber of Secrets.

-v-

Daphne stared in shock. Her mouth opening an d closing soundlessly. Her eyes focused on the rotting corpse of the basalisk in the center of the room.

Harry took a few tentative steps in, cringing at some of the memories that the place brought up. A reminder of the near death that both Ginny and he nearly succumbed to. Harry walked in, accidentally kicking a small rock into the water. The splash broke Daphne out of her shock.

She tentatively stepped into the chamber, and took a look around the chamber noticing the snake heads that lined the path to the sculptor of Salazaar Slytherin. She kept looking at the basalisk though.

"So how did you kill it?"

Harry went into a simple explanation of how Fawkes pretty much did most of the hard work for him and pecked out the eyes; he just kind of stumbled about and accidentally stabbed the snake in the head with the Sword of Gryffindor, getting bitten in the process. Fawkes saved him again there.

Daphne was gobsmacked. For one thing, because Harry had zero ability to embellish the tale at all. Heck, he gave most of the credit to Fawkes. She then asked how Harry got the Sword of Gryffindor, but he just shrugged at that. He didn't really know, he just found it in the sorting hat.

"I didn't really have time to explore last time, so lets go take a look around."

Daphne nodded. "Can we expect something to kill you?"

Harry just laughed. "I hope not, I've had enough of that."

They journeyed through the central chamber, there wasn't really anything there. Daphne wasn't really willing to walk through the sewers and Harry admitted that there wasn't anything back there.

It seemed disappointing that there wasn't really anything here, until Harry got a thought. He walked up to the sculpture of Slytherin and hissed out, "Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four."

The mouth opened up slowly, and Daphne came over to watch what was happening. The mouth opened and Harry gave a quick glance back at Daphne. He gave a quick gesture towards the mouth.

"You first, Potter."

Harry smiled. "Lumos!" With the bright wand light leading the way he stepped into the chamber. Harry didn't think anything was back here, especially with such a lethal snake taking up most of the space, but he followed the passage way down. Pulling out her own wand, she followed Harry down into the passage.

Wandering down the passageway for a bit, they eventually came to a fork. "Which way should we go?" Harry asked, wincing as his voiced echoed down the chamber.

"Lets go right." They took the right fork and came to a wide opening. Their wands illuminated a grim scene of various bones of small and large creatures alike. At least there didn't appear to be any human bones down there.

"This must be where the snake nested. Lets go back." They headed back down the passageway and took the other fork. Slowly the passage way became less round and eventually they appeared to be in an ordinary looking corridor.

Harry looked around and saw a few doors lining the corridor. He picked the first one on his left and opened it.

Peeking inside, it was an ornately decorated bedchamber, largely green and silver; it reminded him of the Slytherin Common Room. Harry closed the door and turned around, Daphne had opened a door on the opposite side of the hallway and then slipped in.

Harry followed her into the door, and nearly bumped into Daphne, looking around in awe. Harry looked into the room, to see what Daphne was amazed at. He couldn't believe what he saw. The room was a potions chamber, full of cauldrons of all sorts and cabinets. What really amazed the two of them was the magical field that lined one wall of the room. Behind the the field a magical fire burned in midair on one side, the fire spat out a wooden plank which fell to the floor with a clatter, still on fire. On the opposite side of the fire, in a dark corner, they could just make out some what appeared to be embers.

They walked up to get a closer look. Even through the field they could feel the heat.

"Ashwinder eggs." Daphne stated. Looking at the distinct glow that made the eggs look like embers. Daphne looked over the field, and the little platforms behind the field. "Looks like Slytherin found a way to harvest Ashwinder eggs."

They moved over to the edge, Daphne looked along the wall and found what she was looking for. The shield wall was powered by runes. She bent down to inspect the runes, though she quickly realized that these were way above the fourth year runes class.

"Ah, Greengrass?"

"Hang on, Potter." Daphne gently blew on the rune stone and cleared away the dust around it to get a better image. Perhaps she could copy the runic array and get Professor Babbling to look at it.

"Uhm... Greengrass, you might want to see this."

Daphne was about to turn around when she noticed the dull glow of the runes. She leaned over closer to inspect it. The dull glow increased slightly, before the rune seemed to crack slightly. The stone the runes were carved on had hairline cracks all over it, and some of the cracks started enlarging before her eyes.

Daphne's eyes widened as she stumbled back, falling to the floor. "Potter, the runes about to give out!" she shouted in warning.

"What? What about runes?" Harry asked, attention still focused on the fire. "Nevermind the runes Greengrass, the fire just created an Ashwinder."

That couldn't be a good combo. The flaming snake unwound it self from the ashes of the piece of wood earlier and hissed at the two people in the room and lunged at them—only to be stopped short by the field. The field however flickered and sputtered out. The rune stone in the corner of the room cracked apart. The snake reared back to strike again, this time without the glowing wall between itself and its targets.

The snake lashed out again. Harry's reflexed saved him from getting torched by the fiery snake. He ducked as the snake sailed over him—right into a wooden supply cabinent. Harry turned to see the burning eyes look at him again.

Harry could smell the smoke that started rising out of the cabinet, which had started smoldering when the snake landed in it. Strange scents tickled their noses too, the small of various dried potion ingredients adding fuel to the fire.

"We have to get out of here!" Daphne called out, scrambling back to her feet.

The snake lunged again, this time Harry decided to stand his ground. Casting the first spell that came to his mind and fired a stream of water at the lunging snake.

Steam burst forth as the water evaporating on contact, stinging Harry's and Daphne's skin with heat. The steam added to the smokey room and made it harder to see. Harry couldn't see the snake anymore, but he could still hear the angry hissing.

Instead of putting out the fire and the snake. The fire had evaporated all of the water. Harry noticed that Daphne had crawled over to him. Harry crouched down too, avoiding the smokey air that filled most of the top of the room. Together they headed towards the door.

A hissing was the only warning they got of an impending attack. Daphne saw the outline of a cauldron sitting on the table, with a swish and flick she levitated the cauldron to where she thought the snake was. When a clang and an angry hiss indicated her success she flipped the cauldron over, trapping the snake underneath.

They didn't have any time to celebrate their success against the snake though as smoke was rapidly filling the room. They spotted the bottom portion of the door across the room and made a mad dash towards it.

Moments later they tumbled out the door. An absentminded door locking spell from Daphne slammed the door shut behind them.

They spent the next few minutes coughing up the smoke that they had inhaled, and breathing in the semi-fresh air of the corridor.

"Are all of your adventures this exciting, Potter?"

"Well, compared to basalisks and dementors, Ashwinders seem pretty tame."

Harry stood up and moved towards another door, peeking inside.

Daphne looked on, shocked. "Haven't you had enough excitement, and now you are throwing open other doors?"

Harry gave her a wide grin. "Don't you want to see Slytherin's library?"

He disappeared into the room. Daphne begrudgingly got up, curiosity getting the better of her; she followed him into the room.

-v-

WC: 1400 ish

A/N: Ashwinders are confusing. They lay eggs but they are actually born from the remains of magical fires? So like do the eggs actually ever produce Ashwinders? Do Ashwinders even mate? Are there Ashwinders that last longer than an hour? Do they hiss in Parseltongue[I wrote this under the impression that being strange fiery things that weren't technically living that they didn't speak understand Parseltongue]?

Yeah… something something. Fiery snakes are neat though, so have fiery snakes. Next two prompts (being romance and family) should be coming soonish (like hopefully later this week).


End file.
